{"id":2150,"date":"2025-10-06T08:21:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T07:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/?p=2150"},"modified":"2025-10-06T08:21:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T07:21:22","slug":"assessing-water-and-nitrogen-footprints-of-alternative-cropping-systems-across-the-precipitation-gradient-of-the-north-china-plain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/2025\/10\/06\/assessing-water-and-nitrogen-footprints-of-alternative-cropping-systems-across-the-precipitation-gradient-of-the-north-china-plain\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessing water and nitrogen footprints of alternative cropping systems across the precipitation gradient of the North China Plain"},"content":{"rendered":"<script type='text\/javascript' src='https:\/\/d1bxh8uas1mnw7.cloudfront.net\/assets\/embed.js'><\/script><div id=\"Abs1-content\" class=\"c-article-section__content\">\n<figure style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.springernature.com\/full\/springer-static\/image\/art%3A10.1007%2Fs13593-025-01061-y\/MediaObjects\/13593_2025_1061_Fig1_HTML.png\" alt=\"Fig. 1\" width=\"310\" height=\"207\" aria-describedby=\"Fig1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A field experiment evaluating cropping systems at Luancheng Station in Hebei Province, China, featuring three crops: wheat (a), maize (b), ryegrass (c), and fallow (d). The purpose was to explore the effects of different cropping systems on crop productivity and environmental footprint (Photo credit: Yang Lu, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Alternative cropping systems can sustain productivity and reduce impacts (e.g., excessive groundwater exploitation, nitrogen losses), but microclimate impacts in diversified systems are mostly unexplored. The aim of this study was to explore innovative cropping systems to reduce water use and nitrogen losses across different precipitation gradients. The well\u2013calibrated Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) model and life cycle assessment were combined to analyze the water and nitrogen footprints of five alternative cropping systems, namely, spring maize\u2013winter fallow (sM\u2013F), winter wheat\u2013summer fallow (WW\u2013F), winter wheat\u2013summer maize\u2013winter fallow\u2013spring maize (WW\u2013M\u2013sM), ryegrass\u2013spring maize (R\u2013sM) and winter wheat\u2013summer maize (WW\u2013M) in the North China Plain from 1980 to 2020. Our findings indicate the total water footprint (m<sup>3<\/sup>\/10<sup>3<\/sup> MJ) followed the order: WW\u2013F (70) &gt; WW\u2013M (43) = sM\u2013F (43) &gt; R\u2013sM (42) &gt; WW\u2013M\u2013sM (41), while the total nitrogen footprint (g N\u2013eq\/10<sup>3<\/sup> MJ) followed a different order: WW\u2013F (423) &gt; WW\u2013M (335) &gt; R\u2013sM (246) &gt; WW\u2013M\u2013sM (212) &gt; sM\u2013F (96). Green and blue water footprints were the primary contributors to the total water footprint for all cropping systems, but the proportion of grey water footprint increased across the precipitation gradient due to higher nitrate leaching. Ammonia volatilization and nitrate leaching were the primary factors contributing to nitrogen losses for all cropping systems, depending on drainage and N application. The most promising alternative cropping systems for sustaining groundwater use and mitigating nitrogen losses shift from sM\u2013F and WW\u2013M\u2013F at dry sites to R\u2013sM at wet sites. These findings highlight the importance of diversifying cropping system to the local climate, offering a scientific basis for green agriculture development across diverse regions in China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"c-bibliographic-information__citation\">Lu, Y., Xiao, D., Qi, Y. <i>et al.<\/i> Assessing water and nitrogen footprints of alternative cropping systems across the precipitation gradient of the North China Plain. <i>Agron. Sustain. Dev.<\/i> <b>45<\/b>, 60 (2025). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s13593-025-01061-y<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alternative cropping systems can sustain productivity and reduce impacts (e.g., excessive groundwater exploitation, nitrogen losses), but microclimate impacts in diversified systems are mostly unexplored. The aim of this study was to explore innovative cropping systems to reduce water use and nitrogen losses across different precipitation gradients. The well\u2013calibrated Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) model and &#8230; <a title=\"Assessing water and nitrogen footprints of alternative cropping systems across the precipitation gradient of the North China Plain\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/2025\/10\/06\/assessing-water-and-nitrogen-footprints-of-alternative-cropping-systems-across-the-precipitation-gradient-of-the-north-china-plain\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Assessing water and nitrogen footprints of alternative cropping systems across the precipitation gradient of the North China Plain\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-water-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2151,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150\/revisions\/2151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/agronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}